The field of the invention is collapsible furniture.
Folding chairs are relatively popular, in part because they can be stored at considerably reduced space requirements when compared to non-folding chairs. Exemplary folding chairs with solid arm rests and seat support rods are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,185 to Marchesini et al. (Sep. 23, 1986), U.S. Pat. No. 5,899,525 to Tseng (May 4, 1999), U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,553 to Tseng (Sep. 7, 1999), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,062,639 to Hill (May 16, 2000), all of which are incorporated by reference herein.
Nevertheless, previously known folding chairs still take up a relatively large space when folded, since the dimension of the folding chair is generally reduced only along one space coordinate (e.g., reduced length). To further reduce the space requirement, collapsible chairs have been developed in which further size reduction is achieved by folding the chair along at least two space coordinates (e.g., length and width). Various collapsing chairs are known in the art.
In U.S. Pat. No. Des 247,618 (Mar. 28, 1978), for example, Sparkes describes a collapsible stroller with solid armrests and seat support rods that is first folded in a front to back motion and then folded in a side-to-side motion. Although Sparkes"" stroller provides substantial space saving over non-collapsible strollers, the collapsing is relatively cumbersome since both halves of the chair have to be rotated relative to each other. Improved collapsibility can be achieved by including a detachable connector element into a structure that couples foldable halves of the stroller as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,317,581 to Kassai (Mar. 2, 1982). Uncoupling of the detachable element advantageously simplifies side-to-side folding of the stroller. However, Kassai""s stroller nevertheless requires at least two folding operations to collapse the stroller.
To avoid at least some of the problems associated with multiple operations of collapsible chairs, Mann describes in U.S. Pat. No. 5,058,950 (Oct. 22, 1991) the use of hinges in both armrests and seat support rods. Mann""s chair can be collapsed in a single side-to-side and front-to-back motion, however, the hinges in the armrests may be uncomfortable for at least some of the users. Moreover, due to the particular configuration of movable elements in the chair, front and back seat support rods are perpendicular to the legs of a person sitting in the chair, which will likely restrict blood flow in the legs of almost all users over a prolonged period.
Although there are various collapsible chairs with solid armrests known in the art, all or almost all of them suffer from one or more disadvantages. Therefore, there is a need to provide improved methods and apparatus for collapsible chairs with solid armrests.
The present invention is directed to a collapsible chair having solid armrests that can be collapsed in a single motion, wherein contemplated collapsible chairs are preferably configured as a quad with the arm rests slidably coupled to the quad.
In particular, contemplated collapsible chairs have a pair of front legs, a pair of rear legs, and a pair of solid arm rests, wherein a backrest and a first cross brace are coupled to the front legs, and a seat and a second cross brace are coupled to the rear legs. The armrests are slidably coupled to the front legs, the rear legs, the first cross brace, or the second cross brace, such that the chair collapses in a single movement in which the front legs approximate each other when the front legs and the rear legs pivot towards each other.
In one aspect of the inventive subject matter, the solid armrest is slidably coupled to at least one of the front legs, and it is further preferred that the solid armrest is arcuate. It is also contemplated that the solid armrest is rotatably coupled to one of the rear legs, and slidably coupled to one of the front legs.
In another aspect of the inventive subject matter, the backrest and the seat are coupled to each other to form a continuous supporting surface, and are preferably fabricated from a weather resistant material. It is further contemplated that the seat is a tensioned seat. In a further aspect of the inventive subject matter, the front legs and the rear legs are rotatably coupled to each other, and where the front and back legs are coupled to each other via cross braces, it is preferred that the front legs, the rear legs, and the first and second cross brace form a quad.
In a still further aspect of the inventive subject matter, a method of imparting collapsibility into a chair comprises one step in which a pair of front legs, a pair of rear legs, and an arcuate solid armrest are provided. In another step, a first cross brace is coupled to the front legs, and a second cross brace is coupled to the rear legs to form a quad, and in still another step, the arcuate arm rest is slidably coupled to at least one of the front legs, rear legs, first cross brace, and second cross brace such that such that the chair collapses in a single movement in which the front legs approximate each other when the front legs and the rear legs pivot towards each other.
Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention, along with the accompanying drawing, in which like numerals represent like components.